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Nice, solid win by Rafa but he will need to do more if he meets Novak in the final
Did you read much Dr Seuss as a child
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Choking usually means got nervous, strangled the racquet so couldnāt hit the ball. Thatās not what happened. Barty was cruising to victory and wasnāt ready for the onslaught of winners that come from Anisimova. Thatās the opposite of choking.
Barty doesnāt have the power of the other top players, so as she is counter hitting and slicing she always gives her opponent a look in. Keys also went through extended periods of the match where she was hitting clean winners past Ash, who at times couldnāt dismantle the power.
Barty was actually amazing how when Anisimova took control for long periods Ash would just keep counter hitting and never retreated into a defensive mindset. When she led 5-2 in the 3rd, 0-40 with 3 match points, there was no choke as Anisimova elevated her game with 1st serves and was clean off the ground.
Just because a player comes from behind doesnāt mean the frontrunner choked. Momentum changes for other reasons. Barty is as mentally tough as any player in the womenās draw, and often comes from a set down. Choking is a derogatory term that doesnāt describe Barty or her match last night.
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I didnāt watch the whole match, but didnāt Barty have three consecutive unforced errors at this point?
Anisimova was mentally cooked by then. Close to tears, hadnāt hit a winner in a looong time.
Not saying that part was a choke, but I am definitely questioning that Anisimova elevated, let alone āto amazing levels.ā
Turning point for mine was the rain nearly came, Anisimova wanted to stop and Barty was at the service line.
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Hopefully Thiem goes on with it tonight but fear the delay favours Novak massively. Novak didnāt want to be out there last night and was very close to imploding and chucking it all in.
The drop shot that Anisimova played to save match point was unbelievable. Once she got 0-40 at 5-2 & 5-3 Anisimova loosened up and just hit out. Bartyās errors were caused by the power and clean hitting of her opponent.
I agree the difference was that Barty controlled her emotions where her opponent couldnāt.
Do you mean the drop shot she played after Bartyās drop shot from behind the baseline?
Yes - played a drop shot on the run to save a match point.
It was okay.
I donāt think it was as outstanding as the shot before was stupid.
What was brilliant about that drop shot is her momentum is carrying her forward yet she is able to apply wonderful touch and avoid elevating the shot too far above the net. Not many players could do that.
Barty made less unforced errors per game played in her semi than in the previous rounds. That would be due to the quality of Anisimovaās shot making ie she was hitting winners or forcing errors.
I think youāre giving Barty too much praise there. I admire her greatly myself because usually she does exactly what you say, but the match last night wasnāt like that.
Both women had periods when every shot they hit was a winner, but both also had periods when they made one unforced error after another. And she certainly did appear to choke a couple of times; eg in the second-last game of the match she had 3 match points and lost them all on unforced errors.
Ultimately her basic mental toughness got her through when she needed it. The turning point was when she was 3-0 down in the second, playing like a dog and with Anisimova hitting winner after winner; she finally pulled herself together and fought back into it, then powered through the set as Anisimova took her turn to collapse.
Ash Barty is a great player and Iām hoping sheāll win tonight. But last night she was up and down and she played tentatively and defensively at certain times. Iām hoping sheāll be at her consistent, aggressive best tonight.
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Go Ash you little beauty.
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Thereās a small passage containing 4 words I desperately want to do something with but Iām battling with maturity as it is.
Could a mod tell me how many weeks Iād get, hypothetically
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Men have em too, you know? 
Gee, I hope Ash wins it. My clients are always banging on about Osaka & Nishikori, but they switch off once the Japanese players have been booted. The Ash story is a good one.
If she has a solid first serve percentage game then she should get it done.
You are right Shelton (as wimm also said) that Barty hit 3 unforced errors when Anisimova served at 2-5, 0-40 in the 3rd set. But there were quality serves and ground shots in each of those points as Anisimova lifted when she was down. Obviously Barty had a shocking patch from 5-0 to being down 6-7 0-3, but her effort to come back from that was exceptional.
Barty will never have the power of the taller women players, so sheāll have to keep finding other ways of winning, such as consistency and mental toughness.
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So Barty will be number 2 in the world if she wins. Number 3 if she loses
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Iām not a mod but Iād guess about 28 days.
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